Hapag-Lloyd secures long-term financing for 24 newbuild vessels

German container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd will use green financings for the 24 large container ships, ordered in October 2024 and expected to be delivered between 2027 and 2029.

The newbuildings will have a combined capacity of 312,000 TEUs and involve a combined investment volume of around US$4 billion.

According to the company’s statement, the financing consists of four components:

• Around US$900 million of the purchase price will be financed using Hapag-Lloyd’s funds.
• A total of US$500 million will be made available from two banks in the form of bilateral mortgage loans.
• The amount of US$1.8 billion will be financed via three leasing structures
• A total of US$1.1 billion will be financed via a syndicated credit facility backed by the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure).

The financing share amounts to a total of around 80% of the investment volume, with maturities ranging between 10 and 18 years.

The financing will be carried out on the basis of Hapag-Lloyd’s Green Financing Framework, which in turn complies with the standards of the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association (LMA). This has been verified by an independent expert opinion of the international classification society DNV.

“We are continuously modernizing our fleet in order to deliver a high quality of service and to achieve our ambitious decarbonization goals,” pointed out Mark Frese, CFO/CPO of Hapag-Lloyd AG. “The successful conclusion of several attractive financial transactions confirms that green financing components are becoming increasingly important. In addition, we are pleased to be able to finance newbuild projects in China for the first time with the Sinosure transaction.”

Hapag-Lloyd is committed to the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Agreement. By 2030, the total greenhouse gas emissions of the Hamburg-based ocean carrier are to be reduced by around a third compared to 2022.

The 24 ships will be built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art, low-emission and fuel-efficient high-pressure liquefied gas dual-fuel engines. In addition, the new boxships can be operated using biomethane, which can reduce CO2e emissions by up to 95% compared to conventional propulsion systems. The new vessels will also be ammonia-ready, according to Hapag-Lloyd’s announcement.

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